Religious police have arrested 25 young people accused of organising a gay wedding in socially conservative northern Nigeria, authorities said Sunday.
The sharia police, known as the Hisbah, stormed an event centre in Kano, the largest city in the predominantly Muslim region, where the alleged wedding was expected to take place, acting on a tip-off from residents, officials said.
Eighteen men and seven women, all in their early 20s — including the pair believed to be getting married — were taken into custody, said Mujaheed Abubakar, deputy head of the Hisbah.
He told reporters that one man was “planning to tie the knot with another young man at the scene of the illegal assembly”, and that an investigation seeking prosecutions would be carried out.
Sharia, the Islamic law code, based on the teachings of the Koran, runs parallel to state and federal justice systems in 12 northern Nigerian states.
Under the local interpretation of it homosexuality is punishable by death, although the sentence has never been enforced.
In 2014 Nigeria passed new federal legislation outlawing same-sex marriages and the promotion of civil unions. Anyone breaking the law can face up to 14 years in prison.
The Hisbah has arrested dozens of people over the years at alleged gay weddings, including in 2022, 2018, 2015 and 2007, but no one has yet been convicted.
Earlier in October, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has formally rejected the authority of the Church of England following the appointment of Bishop Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury, citing concerns over her support for same-sex marriage and her position as the first woman to hold the office.
In a statement issued by the Primate, the Most Reverend Henry Ndukuba, the Church described the announcement on Friday, 3 October 2025, as “devastating” and “insensitive,” arguing that it disregards the convictions of a majority of Anglicans globally.
“This election is a double jeopardy. First, it disregards the conviction of the majority of Anglicans, who cannot accept female headship in the episcopate; and second, it is more disturbing that Bishop Sarah Mullally is a strong supporter of same-sex marriage,” the statement said.
The Church of Nigeria recalled Bishop Mullally’s comments following the Church of England’s 2023 vote to approve blessings for same-sex couples, in which she described the decision as “a moment of hope.” The Nigerian Church argued that such positions exacerbate existing divisions within the Anglican Communion, which have persisted for over two decades.
“It remains to be seen how the same person hopes to mend the already torn fabric of the Anglican Communion by the contentious same-sex marriage, which has caused enormous crisis across the Communion,” the statement said.
Students protest
On November 15, 2023, some students took to the streets of Jos, the Plateau State capital, in protest against the proposed treaty on legalisation of Lesbianism, Gay marriage, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) in Nigeria.
The protesters said the treaty is an abomination, and therefore unacceptable to the nation’s two major religions.
According to them, if endorsed, the treaty could ruin their future.
Speaking during the protest, an educationist, Dr Ekaette Ettang, advised the Federal Government and other heads of Africa-Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States not to sign the European Union and Africa-Caribbean and Pacific countries (EU-ACP) treaty, which proposed legalisation of gay marriage in Nigeria.
Ettang argued that should Nigerian government give its consent, citizens shall be forced to practise lesbianism, gay marriage and other perverse sexual acts.
